The Hogwarts Champions
by MissSugarQuill
Summary: Fleur's ringing scream sliced through the loud and joyful cheers like a knife, but Cho didn't hear it.


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for the unnamed friend (hehe). This is based on the GOF movie, not the book, so beware of **SPOILERS**. Hmm, basically, I don't own anything you recognise. :) Oooh, and this is a ONE-SHOT.

**The Hogwarts Champions**

**When It's Over**

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Cho felt as though her heart was about to jump out of her chest, the way it was pounding madly. The people around her were either talking excitedly, or making bets on who would win the Tournament, now that it had been narrowed down to either Harry and Cedric, or determinedly silent, like she was.

She was scared and worried. Very worried. For both Harry and Cedric. The Triwizard Tournament had been ceased for over a century because of the death toll, and the first two tasks (especially the first one) had proved to be extremely dangerous. And now as she sat there, deathly still and pale, she wondered how the two Hogwarts champions were coping in the maze.

Fleur Delacour had been the first to send up red sparks, or at least somebody else had seen her completely immobile and had done so for her. The students had watched, hushed, as Dumbledore and several other teachers escorted Fleur out from the maze. The blonde beauty now sat at the stands with Madame Maxime and her fellow Beauxbatons students, wrapped in a blue blanket and looking very pale and scared. Cho could not help but notice that Fleur did not look as magnificent and beautiful as she did when she first arrived at Hogwarts. Something - perhaps the horrors of the Tournament - had taken away some of sparkle.

Fleur had not spoken since leaving the maze. Her eyes were filled with dread and she was shivering uncontrollably. As Cho watched her, her heart filling with pity, she felt a shiver run down her own spine and became more worried than ever. This confident, albeit stuck-up girl had been shaken up by what she had faced in the maze. How on earth were Harry and Cedric coping?

Cho turned her gaze away from Fleur and her dark eyes landed on Viktor Krum, who was also silent. He sat there at the stands with his own school and Professor Karkaroff, looking more drawn and pale than Cho had ever seen him. Rumour had it that he had attacked Fleur in the maze, but Cho could hardly believe that. Krum did not seem like the type, and Cho saw that even at this moment she could see he was scared as well. It seemed that was all anyone could feel at the moment.

Scared.

Almost everywhere she looked, there was one person who was resolutely quiet and staring straight ahead, where the entrance of the maze was. It was where the four champions had last been, together. Cho comforted herself with the thought that the four would be reunited very soon, when everything was over and when she knew both Cedric and Harry were safe.

Up there at the Hufflepuff stands, every single student was stony-faced. It could not have been clearer that they desperately wanted to see Cedric emerge, grinning and holding up the Cup, thus announcing victory for the humble and shunted-aside house of Hufflepuff. That entire section of the stadium was silent and tense. It made Cho tremble a bit.

In her own stand, the Ravenclaw one, there was a mix of emotions. Some, like her, were desperate for this whole tournament to be over. Others were the aforementioned talking enthusiastically and making bets. If she hadn't felt so much fear and dread, she would have turned around and told them to shut it.

_Please..._ she thought pleadingly, staring determinedly at the spot where the winner would appear with the Cup, _Hurry up and win, one of you._

At the Gryffindor stand, Cho could see Harry's two best friends. The bushy-haired girl was gripping onto the red-haired Weasley boy. She was biting her lip and shaking, and he was white though with a brave expression on his face. They both cared for nothing more but their friend's safe return. At that moment, Cho could sympathise with them. The horrible worry that was eating away her stomach, she knew, was eating away theirs'. They didn't care who won the competition. They just wanted it to be over. Likewise, Cho wanted Cedric to come back so this endless waiting would finally cease, and she could be sure of his safety with a long hug where she could feel his warmth and hear his soothing and comforting voice.

As she thought about his warm embrace, Cho smiled and relaxed a little. Cedric was the perfect gentleman. _Her_ perfect gentleman, whom she had grown very fond of. But she knew she couldn't stop fretting over him, no matter what others said, until he was back from the awful maze.

Which had to be any moment! Cho glanced at the spot where the winner would appear again, hoping with all her might that they had returned without her noticing during all her thinking. She started to grow even more nervous; the boys had been in there for an awful long time. Much _too_ long. Suppose something had happened...?

Just as Cho, her hands clasped so tightly her knuckles were gleaming white, was about to voice her thoughts out loud to her friend by way of relieving some nerves, the stadium was suddenly full of cheers and joyful music.

Cho turned to the entrance of the maze so fast her neck made a funny crunching noise, but she didn't care. Harry and Cedric had both returned, lying on the grass. Harry was holding onto the cup, which had to mean he had won, but Cho didn't care. They were both safe.

She stood up and cheered heartily with the rest of the school, beaming. She looked around the stands and saw Fleur, jumping up and running down to meet them, looking as radiant as ever now with her beautiful smile. Krum had stood up and wore a vaguely impressed smile as he applauded. The Hufflepuffs were cheering and clapping in appreciation, and Harry's friends were hugging each other in their very relief. Cho had to grin at all this and she felt as if a heavy load had been lifted off her shoulders. At last, everything was perfect, as everyone screamed in happiness and the band played their triumphant music. At last, Cedric was truly safe from the whole competition and Cho would no longer have to worry anymore.

The raven-haired girl was about to run down where Fleur was to congratulate the Hogwarts champions when she suddenly realised that the French beauty had gone very still. Fleur had halted in the middle of her walk, and she was not moving a single muscle.

And as Cho looked at the two boys, still lying on the grass, it was only then she knew that something was very, very wrong.

They had not stood up to meet their cheering audience, both beaming at having made it out of the maze. Harry's small form was still lying on Cedric, and Cho noticed with a chilling horror that his whole body was shaking in an indecent way. Cedric, on the other hand, was not moving at all, even though Harry was sprawled on him, apparently choking.

Fleur's ringing scream sliced through the loud and joyful cries and cheers like a knife, but Cho didn't hear it.

Her breaths became shorter and quicker as she watched Harry, who was crying and clutching onto Cedric. She watched as Dumbledore attempted to pull Harry away, but the boy thrashed against his grip and grabbed onto Cedric's collar. He was crying out something through his tears, but Cho couldn't understand. She couldn't understand anything at the moment.

Cho felt a numbness spreading through her, and it was hurting every single part of her. She stared, unblinking, as Dumbledore took the shaking Harry in his hands and in a devastated voice the poor boy choked out, "I couldn't leave him. Not there." And he collapsed, his whole body shaking with heart-wrenching sobs.

Cho's heart went cold as she took another look at her Cedric and saw his blank expression and staring eyes.

_He was dead._

She could hear everyone now, tears welling in her eyes as the horrible truth gripped her. Girls were screaming. Boys were gasping. Fleur had her hands over her face as she sobbed. Harry was crying as though his heart was getting ripped out. Cedric's father fought his way through the crowd and fell apart when he saw his boy, his smart, handsome and strapping boy, and he cried out in the most terrible and tragic way ever heard by any of the students that night.

"Cho?" Cho's friend whispered, slipping a hand into hers.

Very slowly, Cho turned to her and saw the tears that were streaming down her face. She turned back to look at the maze's entrance as pain overcame her. Her chest heaved and her throat tightened.

Harry was being dragged away by Professor Moody, and Cho could no longer fight the grief.

_"I couldn't leave him. Not there."_

Cho began to sob and cry, shaking uncontrollably, and her friend pulled her into a close and tight embrace. She could not describe exactly how she felt at that moment. She felt cold. Empty. Alone. Her whole body ached, especially her head. She was unable to think, unable to move, unable to talk. All she could do was cry. Cry out her pain and sorrow, because the one thing that was clear in her mind was that she had been wrong.

The four Triwizard champions would never stand together again.

She would not be able to stop being scared and worried, even though the competition was over.

But most of all, the thing that made her cry such heartbreaking tears was that she had been wrong about Cedric being there to hug and hold her after he came back from the maze, and the two of them would pursue on their lives happily with each other's company.

Because now he was gone forever.

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A/N: I became kind of teary-eyed while writing this. I'm not a great hand at angsty stuff, but I... that part of the movie scared me the most and it broke my heart. It kinda gripped me and made me sort... unstable. :) I think I'll need to watch it again to restore myself to my... normal self, hehe. But at the moment I'm trying my best to overcome it by writing this. I hope you enjoyed it. Feedback is always adored. :) --MSQ.


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